NY State Senate Bill 2025-S591

Senate Bill S591

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to eligible purchases by school breakfast and lunch service programs receiving additional state subsidies

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2025	referred to education

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2025-S591 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A839
Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education
Laws Affected:: Amd §5, Chap 537 of 1976
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S7847, A10320
2021-2022: S4315, A4820
2023-2024: S423, A870

2025-S591 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Permits a school food authority to attribute moneys spent on purchases of food products from New York state farmers, growers, producers or processors made for its school breakfast program to the thirty percent of costs for school breakfast and lunch service programs.

2025-S591 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S591

SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend chapter 537 of the laws of 1976, relating to paid, free
and reduced price breakfast for eligible pupils in certain school
districts, in relation to purchases of food products from New York state
farmers, growers, producers or processors

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to increase school district partic-
ipation in and eligibility for the school lunch reimbursement for
purchase of New York farm-fresh products.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one amends unconsolidated law to authorize schools, commencing
July 1, 2025 and every year thereafter, to attribute moneys spent on
purchases of food products from New York state farmers, growers, produc-
ers or processors made for its school breakfast program to the thirty

percent of costs required to receive reimbursement for school lunch
service programs.

Section two provides the effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Currently, schools are eligible to receive an additional $.25 reimburse-
ment for school lunches that include at least thirty percent food
products from New York state farmers, growers, producers or processors.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The reimbursement for school lunches was added in 2018 to encourage the
purchase of fresh, healthy, and whole or minimally-processed foods to
support the health and nutritional well-being of school children while
also supporting New York farms. In addition, at a time when dairy farm-
ers in New York are struggling, adding this incentive would provide them
with much-needed support and give our children access to higher quality
products.

This program includes a $10 million appropriation through the State
Education Budget. Up to this point, only 49 school districts across the
state qualified for the incentive, and upon audit, only 7 school
districts were actually approved. This language change will give schools
access to this already allocated funding, which has not yet been fully
utilized, and 'significantly expand the benefits of this valuable
program to more school.

One of the biggest impediments to qualifying for the incentive is that
lunch is the only meat that can be counted toward the 30 percent thresh-
old. This means that milk, yogurt, cheese, and fresh fruit served at
school breakfast do not count, even though we know that this is one of
the most important meals of the day 'for children. Not only will this
change expand account to healthy, nutritious foods for our school chil-
dren but would also discourage the perverse incentive schools currently

have to procure unnecessarily more expensive foods in order to meet the
required 30 percent threshold.

According to Hunger Solutions New York, 4,912 schools across the state
offer lunch programs serving over one million students, with 1,562
schools also offering free breakfast to over 500,000 children. We are
falling very short of serving these children with healthy, locally
grown, and sourced foods. We can make this incentive a win-win for our
school children and New York farmers and food products with the addition
of breakfast to that incentive.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-2020: S7847 EDUCATION / A10320 education

2021-2022: S4315 Referred to Education

2023: S423A referred to Education / A870A referred to Education

2024: S423A referred to Education / A870A referred to Education

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate.

2025-S591 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    591
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. HINCHEY, ADDABBO, BAILEY, BORRELLO, BROUK, CLEARE,
   GALLIVAN, JACKSON, MYRIE, ROLISON, SKOUFIS, WEBB  --  read  twice  and
   ordered  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
   Education

 AN ACT to amend chapter 537 of the laws of 1976, relating to paid,  free
   and  reduced  price  breakfast  for  eligible pupils in certain school
   districts, in relation to purchases of food  products  from  New  York
   state farmers, growers, producers or processors
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivisions b and c of section 5 of  chapter  537  of  the
 laws  of  1976,  relating  to paid, free and reduced price breakfast for
 eligible pupils in certain school districts, subdivision b as amended by
 section 32-a of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of 2024 and subdivision
 c as amended by section 22-b of part A of chapter  56  of  the  laws  of
 2022, are amended to read as follows:
   b.  Notwithstanding  any  monetary  limitations with respect to school
 lunch programs contained in any law  or  regulation,  for  school  lunch
 meals  served in the school year commencing July 1, 2022 and each July 1
 thereafter, a school food authority shall be eligible for a State subsi-
 dy equal to $0.1901 per free and paid school lunch meal, and $0.0519 per
 reduced-price lunch meal, for any  school  lunch  meal  served  by  such
 school food authority; provided that the school food authority certifies
 to  the  Department  of  Agriculture and Markets through the application
 submitted pursuant to subdivision c  of  this  section  that  such  food
 authority  has  purchased  at  least thirty percent of its total cost of
 food products for its school lunch service program from New  York  state
 farmers,  growers, producers or processors in the preceding school year.
 COMMENCING JULY 1, 2025, AND EACH  JULY  1  THEREAFTER,  A  SCHOOL  FOOD
 AUTHORITY  SHALL  BE  ALLOWED  TO ATTRIBUTE MONEYS SPENT ON PURCHASES OF
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD00594-01-5
 S. 591                              2
 
 FOOD PRODUCTS FROM NEW YORK STATE FARMERS, GROWERS, PRODUCERS OR PROCES-
 SORS MADE FOR ITS SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM  TO  THE  THIRTY  PERCENT  OF
 COSTS FOR SCHOOL BREAKFAST AND LUNCH SERVICE PROGRAMS.
   c.  The  Department of Agriculture and Markets in cooperation with the
 State Education Department, shall develop an application for school food
 authorities to seek an additional State subsidy pursuant to this section
 in a timeline and format prescribed by the commissioner  of  agriculture
 and  markets.  Such  application  shall  include, but not be limited to,
 documentation demonstrating  the  school  food  authority's  total  food
 purchases  for  its  school  BREAKFAST  AND  lunch  service program, and
 documentation demonstrating its total food purchases and percentages for
 such program, PERMITTED TO BE COUNTED UNDER THIS SECTION, from New  York
 State  farmers, growers, producers or processors in the preceding school
 year. The application shall also include an attestation from the  school
 food  authority's  chief  operating  officer  that it purchased at least
 thirty percent of its total cost  of  food  products,  PERMITTED  TO  BE
 COUNTED  UNDER  THIS SECTION, for its school BREAKFAST AND lunch service
 program from New York State farmers, growers, producers or processors in
 the preceding school year in order to meet  the  requirements  for  this
 additional  State  subsidy. School food authorities shall be required to
 annually apply for this subsidy. After reviewing  school  food  authori-
 ties' completed applications for an additional State subsidy pursuant to
 this section, the Department of Agriculture and Markets shall certify to
 the  State Education Department the school food authorities approved for
 such additional State subsidy and the State Education  Department  shall
 pay such additional State subsidy to such school food authorities.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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